Christie offers searing Obama rebuttal at RJC

NJ Gov. Chris Christie blasted President Barack Obama as a "self-interested" and "timid" politician who has sat on the sidelines rather than offer a steady hand to a country that is "starving for leadership."

Speaking at a luncheon of the Republican Jewish Coalition, the onetime-possible-presidential-candidate-turned-Romney-backer used characteristically tough-talking rhetoric to respond to the president's speech yesterday in Kansas.

Christie said that Obama "gave us false hope" on economic matters and "suffers from the need to always be the smartest person in the room" on foreign affairs.

The New Jersey Republican blamed Obama's hands-off approach to the congressional supercommittee on "his own self-interested political timidity."

And he asserted that the president, who yesterday aligned himself with President Teddy Roosevelt, to stop urging other Americans to "meet the moment." "Get out of your chair and start doing the hard work yourself to make America a better country," Christie said to applause.

Christie did not explicitly mention his preferred candidate, Mitt Romney, but spoke about the need for "true leaders" and decried "blow-dried" political soundbites.

"The era of focus group tested blow-dried answers needs to end. But it cannot be replaced by an era of hyperbole and irresponsible answers," he said after briefly referring to the 2012 presidential contest as "a circus."

Christie heads to Iowa later today to stump for Romney in West Des Moines.